Dead Eyes, Meet Burnt Eye
by mandaree1
Summary: Everyone had always told Toph that her eyes were creepy. She grew her bangs out and got over it. The group all think her eyes are beautiful. Zuko's the only one brave enough to say it.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar; The Last Airbender, or any other forms of the show.**

**Title: Dead Eyes, Meet Burnt Eye**

**Disclaimer: Everyone had always told Toph that her eyes were creepy. She grew her bangs out and got over it. The group all think her eyes are beautiful. Zuko's the only one brave enough to say it.**

**Warnings: Fluffy? Friendly Toph and Zuko that could be seen in a romantic light.**

**Author's Note: A bit of a Toph character study. **

**...**

Toph's eyes were creepy.

She didn't know that personally, of course. More than a few family friends had jumped away when her gaze had turned to them. A few of her bolder classmates had told her upfront how bothered they were by the fact she didn't blink as much as most people did. One of her first earthbending teachers had jumped when she'd appeared before them, mumbling a mild curse before saying something along the lines of 'I wasn't expecting... those eyes...' Even her parents had told that perhaps she should do something about them, because they were 'mildly disturbing.'

Translation; creepy.

And that was okay. No, really, it was. Stop shaking your head. It had never really bothered her. But it _did_ bother other people, and it was annoying to listen to them mumble apologies as they turned away. (She didn't have to see to know that they turned away. Call it an instinct.)

So Toph did what Toph did best; she grew out her bangs to shut them up and got over it like everyone else.

... Alright, so maybe she'd bent to them a little on that one, but it was to shut them up, okay? It wasn't like they bothered her or made her self-conscious or anything. She was Toph BeiFong- She didn't _do_ self-conscious.

And she knew they didn't completely cover her face. Her parents wouldn't have let her grow them out that much, and she wouldn't be comfortable with them smothering her mouth and nose. It wasn't like she was hiding her eyes or anything, she just wanted to creep people out less.

The bangs were enough. The way they draped over her eyes was just enough to make people feel more relaxed around her. She didn't know why, it wasn't like she could _see_ what they saw (insert her waving a hand in front of her face here.) Her mother had told her they gave her a 'childish air.' Toph's stomach had rolled, and it'd taken all her self-control not to make rude gagging noises and run to the nearest barber to have them shave her bald, if only to tick her off.

She loved her mother, really, she did, but they just didn't mix together well...

She'd never told the others. Telling them would bring about the same reaction as when Sokka and Katara talked about their parents, or when Aang went off on some rambling story about his days at the air temple or Monk Gyatso, whoever that was (and, man, did they really need to school her on the people they'd met in the past and went on about all the time. She only knew half of them), or when Zuko mentioned his oppressive childhood at the castle or the fateful battle that led to his banishment. Toph didn't do sentimental and she didn't do heart-to-heart talk sessions. She liked her bangs now, they were part of who she was, part of her style. How or why they came to be just didn't matter anymore.

At least, not to her it didn't.

The others didn't openly say anything about it, but she could tell that they didn't like them. Maybe they framed her face weirdly and no one had ever bothered to tell her?

No matter what the reason, people were always moving them around. Aang had a certain couple of locks he liked to tuck behind her ears whenever they went undercover, and she'd punched him hard everytime for the stupid grin she knew he had on his face when he did it. The 'I'm getting away with something I shouldn't be' grin. How she knew it well.

Sokka didn't touch her face out of fear for his life (a well-founded fear, no doubt), but Katara loved to do her hair, and her bangs were almost always combed aside when she styled it. One of the downsides to being dragged along to day spas was knowing at least one person would whisper and point as they passed. Toph was pretty sure Katara didn't notice it. Or, if she did, she never said anything about it, which was unlike her. Normally Sugar Queen loved to give pep talks. She wouldn't pass up such an opportunity if she knew it was there.

Zuko never touched her face, just like she never touched his. They had a certain sort of boundary bubble towards each other. One of those 'I won't touch if you won't' type of things. Toph never really thought much of it. After all, it was pretty fun to break that bubble and sense the heat rising in his face as she playfully grabbed an arm. But that was as far as she ever went. Out of respect, mostly, as well as the knowledge that he had a girlfriend, and while she was far from the jealous type, Toph wasn't interested in stirring up _that_ kind of trouble.

But even if he never touched them, he did talk about them.

"You should keep them out of your face more." He commented.

She shrugged, stretching out even further. The only reason she'd brushed them aside in the first place was because it was way to hot for it to be healthy, and she didn't want anymore sweat on her face than she already did.

Sweat washed away the covering of earth on her body. The earth worked as a way to see herself more clearly. It helped sharpen edges and bring out lines and wrinkles.

And Katara thought she was just wearing it because she hated water. (Yes, she was scoffing.)

(Not that it didn't play a part in things. Water was risky and unpredictable, capable of sweeping stronger girls off their feet. Water was blindness and uncertainty, and she hated being uncertain.)

Either way, it only took a palm pressed against the ground to tell her that she looked like a bigger mess than she usually did. Sweaty, her clothes pressed heavily against her skin, shoulders and ankles slightly red from sunburn.

It was a good thing Zuko was a cool guy. Otherwise, she might have felt the littlest bit embarrassed.

"It's just hair." She grunted, placing her hand back around her midsection. As long as she was connected with the ground, she could see. Back, shoulders, waist, legs, all of those worked just fine as her eyes if she concentrated enough. Her hands and feet merely sharpened and spread the images out further. She knew where Zuko was and trusted him enough not to see everything around her, so she didn't need to worry about sharpening things.

Zuko shook his head. "Yeah, but sometimes it makes it hard to see your face. That's important to some people, you know."

Yes, Toph did know. She'd been told it plenty of times by overbearing parents and coddling earthbending teachers. She just _didn't care_. "Not much to look at, Princess. What're they gonna look at? My mouth?"

She'd never considered the dead orbs in her face to be her eyes. That was her hands and her feet. Her eyes... well, they were faulty. What was that phrase? 'Out with the old...'

Exactly.

She doesn't tell him this, but she doesn't have to. They're all mentally connected somehow, and she has to say it does freak her out at times. She can tell if someones lying just by hearing the tone of their voices. Vibrations aren't needed for that like they used to. They can sense moods without even looking (or sensing) each other. They can see through each others facades with a startling amount of perception.

Which also means they can tell when she's slathering the tough girl attitude on a bit to much, and she still isn't sure if she likes that or is afraid of it.

Zuko sighs and sits up, leaning against what she guesses is a dresser. The kitchen has a huge open window, and they're both to lazy and hot to brave the elements and go grab the chairs. The floor's better than the chairs, though, in her opinion. There was a lot less guesswork involved with the floor. "Toph, can I see your hand?"

He holds an arm out. She sighs, because things were quickly stepping into the sappy range she tried so hard to avoid, and sits up.

"Fine. Here." She sets her hand in his. Zuko's hand feels much larger than hers, soft but strong. Her hands are hard and calloused. The difference isn't all that surprising. Earth has always been more physical than Fire. She'd be more surprised if they felt alike.

He sets the hand on the side of his face, her thumb cupping the burned skin just under his eye.

Toph blinked. "I know that's there. I can sense it."

Call it morbid curiosity, but she's always liked to trace their scars. The splotch on Aang's back, the little scars that skittered up and down Katara's arms from attempts to bind her arms together so she couldn't bend, never very noticeable or life-threatening, the line on Sokka's side from when his boomerang had come back before he'd expected it too. The little things like that.

Toph had always known that Zuko's eye was scarred. She's just never touched it.

But she'd certainly take the offer when it was presented to her. The skin felt dry, almost cracked, with little bumps and ridges. She follows the remains of the blast of fire out to it's edges before slowly bringing her fingers back to the half-lidded eye.

"Does it look weird?" It certainly _feels _weird.

Zuko nodded. She feels more than senses the movement. "Yeah."

"Oh." She traced the eyelid uncertainly, wondering if touching it hurt him. She knew the boundaries with her eyes, but this eye was burnt, not dead. "Can you see?..."

"Sorta. It's... out of focus." He lifted his head up to stare at the wall. "Blurry."

"That must suck." She tells him. Something tells her that having bad vision would bother her more than having none at all.

"My other eye picks up the slack. It works just fine." He paused. "People think my eye is creepy, you know."

"So what?"

"I don't hide it."

Toph snorted. She knows he has a mop of hair that falls into his face and covers a little of everything. It's part of his outline; her view of him. Just like she knows Aangs balder than a baby with an arrow right smack dab on top of his head (she still isn't quite sure how she sees it- she has to guess it's an avatar thing.) and that Katara has some seriously long hair that looks like a pain to keep up with. It's a part of her natural vision of people as a whole.

He reads her mind with a single sweeping glance of her face. "I like my hair long. Hiding had nothing to do with it."

"Same here." She blows a mouthful of air into the heated atmosphere. Her bangs, as though beckoned, fall over her face like they always do. "I wear my bangs like this because it's a part of who I am."

Zuko nods, but she's not certain if he's completely convinced or not. He turned to look at the door, watching her out of the corner of his eye. "Your eyes aren't creepy, Toph. They're... actually kind of pretty, honestly."

For once in her life, Toph BeiFong doesn't know what to say.

No one had ever told her that before. Ever. And the look on his face and his vibrations tell her that he's not lying. That they all think that and he's just the first one to voice it out loud. They thought her eyes were pretty. Not creepy, not unsettling, not disturbing; pretty.

She rolls over. "Whatever, Princess." She mutters, purposely breaking up the moment.

Because she's Toph BeiFong. Toph Beifong _doesn't do_ sappy moments.

**And here we are, my first 'The Last Airbender' fanfic! **

**No flames! Don't like don't read! Review!**


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